Electric and Petrol-Electric Vehicles – a Book From 1908

This book, released in 1908 in London, was authored by Poynter W. Adams.

It’s written in plain language and presents the state of knowledge and applied solutions from way back then. At the time the book released, many thought that electric vehicles were the right solution. Just read the preface:

preface part 1

All these words are so similar to ours today!

Unfortunately, 1908 sort of marked the last time when the electric vehicle still dominated the automotive industry.

Poynter W. Adams believed back then that new battery technology was coming and that breakthrough developments would occur almost daily. Sound familiar?

preface part 2

Sadly, even today’s li-ions have a long way to go to enable EVs to have just 1% of worldwide sales, but we too hope that improvements are coming.

This last part of the book is about petrol-electric carriages (aka HEV/PHEV) that in author’s opinion would be used for long-distance travels.

We wonder what Poynter W. Adams would say today if he saw the current state of electric vehicles – in London for example.